Baby (Clean Bandit song)

"Baby"
Single by Clean Bandit featuring Marina and Luis Fonsi
from the album What Is Love?
Language
  • English
  • Spanish
Released2 November 2018 (2018-11-02)
Studio
Length3:25
LabelAtlantic
Songwriters
Producers
Clean Bandit singles chronology
"Solo"
(2018)
"Baby"
(2018)
"Mama"
(2019)
Marina singles chronology
"Disconnect"
(2017)
"Baby"
(2018)
"Handmade Heaven"
(2019)
Luis Fonsi singles chronology
"Imposible"
(2018)
"Baby"
(2018)
"Sola"
(2019)
Music video
"Baby" on YouTube

"Baby" is a song by the English electronic music group Clean Bandit, featuring guest vocals from Welsh singer Marina and Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi. It was released on 2 November 2018 through Atlantic Records, as the fifth single from Clean Bandit's second studio album, What Is Love? (2018). The song was written by Diamandis, Matthew Knott, Fonsi, Jack Patterson, and Camille Purcell.

An accompanying music video was released the same day, where an unnamed bride (portrayed by Grace Chatto) marrying the groom (Fonsi), revealing flashbacks of having a thwarted relationship with a wedding guest (Starley), while attending summer camp. Clean Bandit later performed "Baby" on television programme Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. It marked as Marina's first single where she is not credited under her previous stage name and later appeared on her fourth studio album, Love + Fear (2019). A version without Fonsi appears on the album's vinyl release.

Commercially, it topped the charts in Israel (Media Forest), the song debuted at number fifteen in the United Kingdom (Official Singles Chart), while it reached the top twenty in Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Lebanon, and Scotland. "Baby" was later certified in Poland and the United Kingdom.

Composition

Baby is composed in the key of C minor. Lyrically, the song deals with a love triangle, with the singer telling somebody that they are "already someone else's".[1]

The song has a tempo of 117 beats per minute, and has a time signature of common time. It also features a complete descending circle of fifths, which propels the music forward throughout the circle of fifths and back to C minor.

Promotion

On 29 October 2018, the group announced the release on Twitter and shared its cover art.[1] On 2 November 2018, the group performed on BBC Two's Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

Critical reception

Mike Wass of Idolator called the preview of the song a "sultry banger that already sounds like a hit", saying Marina "coos" the line "But I'm already someone else's baby" over Clean Bandit's "seductive, Latin-tinged house beats".[2] Billboard labelled "Baby" a "flamenco-infused track", opining that Fonsi's verse in Spanish provides it with a "distinctive Latin flare".[3]

Music video

Clean Bandit also released the video on YouTube on 2 November 2018.[4] The video features Fonsi, Marina, Grace Chatto, and Australian singer Starley.[5] Chatto portrays an unnamed bride who marries Fonsi's character as it is revealed via flashbacks that she had a thwarted relationship with Starley’s character—now a wedding guest—while attending summer camp.[6] The wedding scene was shot at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.[7]

Track listing

  • Digital download
  1. "Baby" – 3:25
  • Digital download – acoustic[8]
  1. "Baby" (acoustic) – 3:37
  • Digital download – remixes[9]
  1. "Baby" (Martin Jensen remix) – 3:02
  2. "Baby" (Sammy Porter remix) – 3:28

Charts

Certifications

List of certifications with units and/or sales
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV)[43] Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Gold 400,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

List of release dates and formats
Region Date Format Version Label Ref.
Various 2 November 2018 Original Atlantic
Italy 9 November 2018 Contemporary hit radio Warner [45]
United Kingdom 16 November 2018 [46]
Various
  • Digital download
  • streaming
Acoustic Atlantic [8]
23 November 2018 Remixes [9]

References

  1. ^ a b Ding, Sophie (29 October 2018). "Clean Bandit Announce New Single 'Baby' Featuring Luis Fonsi and Marina". Billboard. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  2. ^ Wass, Mike (30 October 2018). "Clean Bandit Calls On Marina & Luis Fonsi For New Single, 'Baby'". Idolator. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  3. ^ Bowenbank, Starr (2 November 2018). "Clean Bandit Team up With Marina and Luis Fonsi for New Single 'Baby': Stream It Now". Billboard. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Clean Bandit – Baby feat. Marina & Luis Fonsi [Official Video]". Clean Bandit. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ Bowenbank, Starr (2 November 2018). "Clean Bandit, Marina and Luis Fonsi Lament Lost Love in Nostalgic 'Baby' Video: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  6. ^ Sarrubba, Stefania (2 November 2018). "Clean Bandit's new video features a bittersweet same-sex storyline". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Filmed at the Chapel · Wayfarers Chapel · Temporarily Closed". Wayfarers Chapel.
  8. ^ a b "iTunes - Music - Baby (feat. Marina and the Diamonds & Luis Fonsi) [Acoustic] – Single by Clean Bandit". iTunes Store. 16 November 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Baby (feat. Marina and the Diamonds & Luis Fonsi) [Remixes] – Single by Clean Bandit on Apple Music". iTunes. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Belarus Airplay Music Chart (общий ТОП 500) (07–13 декабря 2018 г.)" [Belarus Airplay Music Chart (overall top 500) (07–13 December 2018)]. top.eurofest.by. 13 December 2018. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Clean Bandit feat. Marina and the Diamonds & Luis Fonsi – Baby" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Clean Bandit feat. Marina and the Diamonds & Luis Fonsi – Baby" (in Dutch). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Clean Bandit feat. Marina and the Diamonds & Luis Fonsi – Baby" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Clean Bandit feat. Marina and the Diamonds & Luis Fonsi – Baby" (in French). Ultratop Dance. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Lagalistinn Vika 1 – 2019" (in Icelandic). Tonlistinn. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Charts – TopHit – Highway to Airplay". TopHit. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Croatia ARC TOP 100". HRT. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  18. ^ "ČNS IFPI – CZ Radio – Top 100 – 14. týden 2019" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 44/2018". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Dance Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  21. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Lagalistinn Vika 48 – 2018" (in Icelandic). Tonlistinn. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  23. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  24. ^ "Media Forest – Israel Airplay Charts". Media Forest. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  25. ^ "Clean Bandit – Lebanese Chart Top 20 History". The Official Lebanese Top 20. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  26. ^ "2018 45-os SAVAITĖS (lapkričio 2-8 d.) TOP100" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  27. ^ "Clean Bandit Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  28. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 50, 2018" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  29. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  30. ^ "Airplay 100 – 27 ianuarie 2019" (in Romanian). Kiss FM. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  31. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Weekly Chart". TopHit. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  32. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 30/11/2018 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  33. ^ "ČNS IFPI – SK Radio – Top 100 – 2. týden 2019" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  34. ^ "ČNS IFPI – SK Singles Digital – Top 100 – 45. týden 2018" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  35. ^ "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  36. ^ "Official Singles Chart on 4/1/2019 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  37. ^ "Clean Bandit Chart History (Hot Dance/Electronic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  38. ^ "CIS Year-End Radio Hits (2019)". Tophit. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  39. ^ "Dance Top 100 - 2019". Mahasz. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  40. ^ "Russian Top Year-End Radio Hits (2019)". Tophit. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  41. ^ "SloTop50 – Letne lestvice" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  42. ^ "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  43. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2021 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  44. ^ "British single certifications – Clean Bandit feat. Marine & Luis Fonsi – Baby". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2020. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Baby Clean Bandit feat. Marine & Luis Fonsi in the "Search:" field.
  45. ^ "Clean Bandit - "Baby" – (Radio Date: 9/11/2018)" (in Italian). RadioDate. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  46. ^ "BBC – Radio 1 – Playlist". BBC Radio 1. 16 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.